With a white blaze on his chestnut face and four white feet, Zeus Olympios is a striking sight simply walking around the paddock, and all the more so when he hits full speed and quickens several lengths clear of his field, as he did in the closing stages of the Joel Stakes at Newmarket on Friday.
Karl Burke’s colt came into the Group Two contest having won all three of his previous starts by a combined total of eight and a half lengths. The market, though, preferred the chance of Charlie Appleby’s Opera Ballo, the winner of four from five, and it appeared to be a sensible choice in the early stages as William Buick settled Opera Ballo off the pace while Zeus Olympios pulled hard for his head in mid-division.
